Senior running back Toby Gerhart showed time and time again why he’s the Pacific-10 Conference’s leading rusher as he led the unranked Stanford Cardinal to a 51-42 win over the No. 7 Oregon Ducks on Saturday afternoon.
Gerhart led all rushers with 38 carries for 223 yards — the Stanford single-game record — and three touchdowns.
“I’m happy,” Gerhart said grinning from ear to ear. “I thought we had a great two weeks of preparation. It feels great.”
With the win, the Cardinal improved to 6-3 overall, and 5-2 in Pac-10 play, while Oregon dropped to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play. Stanford had not beaten the Ducks since the 2001 season when they pulled out a late 49-42 victory over then-No. 5 Oregon.
Cardinal signal caller and redshirt freshman Andrew Luck put together an exceptional game for Stanford, going 12 of 20 for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Luck was able to stay in the pocket and pick the banged-up Oregon secondary apart all game long, while sophomore wide receiver Chris Owusu led the Cardinal with four receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Owusu’s biggest play of the game came on the opening kickoff, which he returned 84 yards to the Oregon 16 yard line.
“It’s like Christmas,” Luck said of the starting field position. “I can’t ask for anything more.”
The Cardinal ultimately settled for a field goal, which was the first of a season-high 31 point first half performance.
Luck also hit wide receiver Ryan Whalen four times for 72 yards, and tight end Jim Dray twice for 35 yards and a touchdown.
“I felt like Andrew Luck was on his game as usual,” Owusu said. “It goes without saying that we have a great quarterback and a great leader.”
In all, the Cardinal tallied 254 rushing and 251 passing yards on the day as Gerhart further etched his name into the Stanford record books. Along with breaking his own single-game rushing record, Gerhart also broke his own single-season rushing record and now has 1,217 yards on the season.
“It’s exciting,” Gerhart said. “You don’t get to think about it out on the field, but that’s something I’ll be able to look back at for the rest of my life.”
Gerhart still ranks second all-time with 32 career rushing touchdowns, and is now just five behind all-time leader Tommy Vardell with 37. And with 16 scores this year, Gerhart is only four touchdowns behind Vardell for the single-season record.
“As usual, he is just unbelievable,” junior fullback Owen Marecic said. “His performance speaks for itself.”
Marecic started both ways for the Cardinal, playing both fullback and linebacker for the majority of the first quarter and scored his second career touchdown from two yards out in the second quarter.
Kicker Nate Whitaker had a big day for Stanford as well, as he converted on a career-high three field goals. The final boot, a 48-yarder, came with just 11 seconds left to seal the game after missing from 44 yards out earlier in the quarter.
“The offense did a good job giving me another chance,” Whitaker said. “That’s the most important kick I’ve ever made by far.”
The Cardinal are now 5-0 at home this season, and have won 10 of their last 11 dating back to 2007. And with six wins on the year, Stanford is now bowl-eligible for the first time since its appearance in the Seattle bowl in 2001.
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Gerhart leads Stanford to bowl eligibility
Daily Emerald
November 6, 2009
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